The 26th Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) were held on March 12 (local time) at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, USA. Held as part of the GDC Festival of Gaming, this awards ceremony drew the attention of the gaming industry for two consecutive days, following the indie game awards IGF Awards the previous day.
‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’, developed and published by the French startups Sandfall Interactive and Kepler Interactive, emerged as the star of the awards ceremony by winning five awards, including Game of the Year, Best Debut, Visual Art, Narrative, and Audio.
History created by the passion of Ubisoft employees
Claire Obscur is a dark fantasy RPG released on April 24, 2025, for PS5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. Guillaume Broche, a former Ubisoft employee, began conceptualizing the idea as a personal project in 2019 and started full-scale development after leaving Ubisoft during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to establish Sandfall Interactive.
Developed while traveling between Paris and Montpellier, this game caused a sensation immediately after its release, recording sales of over 3.3 million copies within a month of launch . Since then, it has continued to sell steadily, surpassing 5 million cumulative sales as of October 2025. On Steam, it earned an ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ rating, with approximately 95% of over 100,000 user reviews being positive .
Inspired by the Final Fantasy and Persona series, it was developed with the goal of creating a high-quality turn-based RPG that AAA studios had previously overlooked, and was built using Unreal Engine 5. By October 2025, cumulative sales had surpassed 5 million copies, and it achieved an ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ rating with over 100,000 Steam reviews and a 95% positive rating.
The development team aimed to create a high-quality turn-based RPG inspired by the ‘Final Fantasy’ and ‘Persona’ series , and it was built on Unreal Engine 5. Amid the recent trend of AAA studios focusing on action-oriented RPGs, it was praised for offering a modern reinterpretation of the traditional turn-based combat system.
’33 Expedition’, which swept most game awards in 2025
Claire Obscur broke the record held by The Last of Us Part II in 2020 by recording a record-breaking 13 nominations and 9 wins (including Game of the Year) at the 2025 Game Awards.
With 7 wins at the Golden Joystick Awards, 5 wins at the DICE Awards, and now 5 wins at the GDCA, it has completed the most dominant winning streak of 2025 in the gaming industry’s memory. The game set a record for the most Game of the Year (GOTY) awards in history, surpassing The Witcher 3, The Last of Us Part II, and Baldur’s Gate 3.
The game is also set to expand into a franchise under the name Claire Obscure. Story Kitchen is already developing a live-action film adaptation, and French President Emmanuel Macron even sent a public congratulatory message after the game swept The Game Awards.
[Related Article: A New History of Indie Games: The Potential Proven by ‘Clair Obscur’]
Official website: https://www.expedition33.com/
Stove Page: https://store.onstove.com/ko/games/5102
Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1903340/
Two-time Winner ‘Blue Prince’: The Power of an Original Puzzle Adventure
The puzzle adventure ‘Blue Prince’, a work by developer Dogubomb and publisher Raw Fury, won two awards, including the Innovation Award and Best Design.
‘Blue Prince’ is a mystery puzzle adventure game centered on puzzle exploration with a unique structure. The game features players exploring a mansion where the layout of the rooms constantly changes, collecting clues, and solving puzzles to get closer to the hidden truth.
This work made a strong impression by also being nominated for Game of the Year. Receiving high praise from the judges for its unique spatial exploration structure and creative puzzle design, it established itself as one of the most 주목받는 indie games of the year .
Steam Store Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1569580/Blue_Prince/
Social Impact: ‘Consume Me’ – From IGF to GDCA
‘Consume Me,’ developed by independent developer Jenny Jiao Hsia, won the Social Impact award.
‘Consume Me’ is a narrative-based indie game that progresses through the story by experiencing the daily life, emotions, and social pressures of adolescence via various mini-games and interactions.
It won the 2025 Grand Prize at the 28th IGF Awards held the previous day as a co-developed work with AP Thompson, and with this GDCA Social Impact award, it has garnered attention at both major indie game awards ceremonies and demonstrated a strong presence.
Steam Store Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2359120/Consume_Me/
Audience Award: ‘and Roger’ – 1st Place in Fan Vote
“And Roger,” developed by Japan’s TearyHand Studio and published by Kodansha, won the Audience Award, which is decided by fan voting.
‘And Roger’ is a narrative-driven adventure game that combines an emotional story about the daily lives of dementia patients and their families with unique direction. Players experience the story through choices and interactions as they follow various characters and events, characterized by its delivery of a warm and human message.
The game won two awards at the ‘Taipei Game Show 2026 Indie Game Award (IGA)’ held earlier this year, taking home both the Grand Prix and the Best Audio award.
Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3308870/and_Roger/
Best Technology: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, developed by Japan’s Kojima Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, won the Best Technology award.
Open-world action adventure ‘Death Stranding 2: On the Beach’ is a sequel to the previous game, Death Stranding, featuring the return of protagonist Sam Porter Bridges as he continues his journey to connect a disconnected world.
Steam Store Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3280350/DEATH_STRANDING_2_ON_THE_BEACH/
Special Award: Two Figures Who Made Game History
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Emmy Award-winning game designer Don Daglow.
Daglow, who created over 100 games over a 55-year career, left behind works that became milestones in game history, such as the first baseball game BASBAL (1971), the first RTS/simulation game Utopia (1981), and the first MMORPG that used graphics instead of text, Neverwinter Nights (1991–1997, AOL, Emmy Award winner).
The Ambassador Award was awarded posthumously to Rebecca Ann Heineman (1963–2025), who passed away in 2025.
In 1980, he won the first National Space Invaders Championship, becoming known as the first video game tournament champion in the United States. Over the next 45 years, he participated in the development of more than 250 games, including ‘Bard’s Tale III’, ‘Dragon Wars’, ‘Wolfenstein 3D’, and ‘Doom (3DO)’.
26th GDCA Overall Award Results
| sector | Award-winning work | Developer / Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Game of the Year (GOTY) | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive |
| Best Debut | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive |
| Best Visual Art | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive |
| Best Narrative | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive |
| Best Audio | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive |
| Best Design | Blue Prince | Dogubomb / Raw Fury |
| Innovation Award | Blue Prince | Dogubomb / Raw Fury |
| Best Technology | Death Stranding 2: On the Beach | Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| Social Impact | Consume Me | Jenny Jiao Hsia |
| Audience Award | and Roger | TearyHand Studio / Kodansha |
| Lifetime Achievement Award | Don Daglow | — |
| Ambassador Award | Rebecca Ann Heineman (posthumous) | — |
What is GDCA?
The Game Developers Choice Awards is the world’s most prestigious developer-centric awards ceremony , where game industry developers directly recommend nominees and vote to determine the winners.
Members of the International Choice Awards Network (ICAN) participate in nominations and voting, while only the Audience Award is determined by online voting by the general public.
The awards are given to games officially released in the relevant year, and the awards ceremony is held annually during the GDC Festival of Gaming.
